corbel

[kawr-buh l]Architecture

noun

any bracket, especially one of brick or stone, usually of slight extent.
a short horizontal timber supporting a girder.

verb (used with object), cor·beled, cor·bel·ing or (especially British) cor·belled, cor·bel·ling.

to set (bricks, stones, etc.) so as to form a corbel or corbels (usually followed by out).
to support by means of a corbel or corbels.

Origin of corbel

1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Medieval Latin corvellus, equivalent to Latin corv(us) raven¹ + -ellus diminutive suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for corbel

Historical Examples of corbel

There is a corbel table like it but more elaborate at Vezelay in Burgundy.
Portuguese Architecture
Walter Crum Watson
I'll be back at the office as soon as I get this corbel laid.
Calumet 'K'
Samuel Merwin
We cross rivulets formerly spanned by bridges, of which bricks and a corbel vault are still visible.
The Ancient Cities of the New World
Dsir Charnay
Here we again find the boveda, the corbel roof, the pointed arch observed in previous buildings.
The Ancient Cities of the New World
Dsir Charnay
The reader will notice that in this monument the corbel vault is more convex, and recalls that of a ruinous palace at Palenque.
The Ancient Cities of the New World
Dsir Charnay

British Dictionary definitions for corbel

corbel

noun

Also called: truss a bracket, usually of stone or brick

verb -bels, -belling or -belled or US -bels, -beling or -beled

(tr) to lay (a stone or brick) so that it forms a corbel

Word Origin for corbel

C15: from Old French, literally: a little raven, from Medieval Latin corvellus, from Latin corvus raven

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for corbel

mid-14c., from Old French corbel, diminutive of corb "raven," from Latin corvus (see raven); so called from its beaked shape.